Grandmother Wars
by alayneni
Summary: The centre of Moira Queen's and Donna Smoak's world changed the moment they laid eyes on their grandson Ari Queen. Thus began their competition to determine who the better grandmother was.


**Grandmother Wars**

 **An:** I do not own Arrow. This is the second story in one-shot week.

 **Summary:** The centre of Moira Queen's and Donna Smoak's world changed the moment they laid eyes on their grandson Ari Queen. Thus began their competition to determine who the better grandmother was.

* * *

The centre of Moira Queen's and Donna Smoak's world changed the moment they laid eyes on their grandson Ari Queen. In an effort to separate which grandmother was which, Donna became Granny and Moira was Grandma. Donna bought a onsie that said Granny knows best and Moira had a silk onsie made that said Grandma is the best and thus the Grandmother Wars were born.

After the onsie, they went on to toys, never mind he wasn't even old enough to play with them yet. If Donna bought a car, Moira brought a fancier car. They competed over everything that they gave to Ari. Every day they brought something new for him. Eventually, Oliver and Felicity put their foot down and said no more toys or gifts. Felicity collected 90% of all of his toys and donated it to the children's hospital and the Star City orphanage. That still left Ari with a room full of toys.

Felicity was two months into her maternity leave and she couldn't believe that their mothers were giving her more stress than her baby. Ari was fairly easy. He ate, slept and pooped. That was about all he did at the moment. She would have preferred if Ari slept more but she understood that he was growing child and he needed food to sustain him as well as his parents to keep him clean and safe. She had a little break this morning because Oliver was taking care of Ari which gave her a little bit of time to paint her nails. It was such a relief to be able to reach her toes again. They had suffered tremendously in her last months of pregnancy.

She was in the process of adding a second coat to her toes when she heard someone knocking rapidly at the door. That only meant one thing, Donna Smoak was at the door. Since Ari had been born, both her mother and mother-in-law dropped by every single day. She was thrilled that they loved him as much as they did but she was fairly sure they were spoiling her child rotten. She was not going to tolerate another Ollie Queen. She waddled over to the door carefully. She most definitely did not want to smudge the polish on her toenails. When she opened it,a swirl of colour flew passed her and up the steps besides her.

"Gee mom, a simple 'Hi baby it's nice to see you,' would have been nice," Felicity said sarcastically to the empty air in front of her.

She closed the door and stood at the base of the stairs where she counted to five. Right as she hit the number five, her mom appeared at the top of the stairs. Her heels clicking frantically as she hurried her way down.

"He's gone," Donna said in a panic.

Felicity waited until her mother was right in front of her before addressing her panicked cries that Ari had been kidnapped.

"He's out on the balcony with Oliver enjoying a bit of sun," Felicity said nodding over to the small balcony where Oliver sat on a rocking chair with their son sleeping on his chest. From this angle it looked as though Oliver was asleep as well but Felicity knew better.

"Oh there's my little munchkin," Donna said happily rushing over to the balcony door.

Felicity shook her head. Her mom flung open the door and reached for Ari only to have Oliver catch both her wrists in his large hand. Donna didn't get the hint and tried to reach for Ari again but Oliver shook his head in the negative. Ari shifted a little from the movement but he went back to sleep. Donna tried to pout but Oliver was having none of it. He pointed at the living was his way of silently telling her to go back inside and leave them alone. Donna reluctantly returned to the living room with a face that looked like someone told her she had to eat dirt for lunch.

"Your husband needs to learn how to share," Donna complained collapsing on the couch and picking up Felicity's nail polish bottle to read the colour.

"My husband has been working 20 hour days most of this week because of the Hong Kong deal. He deserves some uninterrupted father-son time," Felicity told her mother taking the nail polish bottle out of her hand.

"What am I supposed to do in the mean time?" Donna whined.

"I don't know? What you used to do before Ari was born?" Felicity suggested opening the bottle to do her fingernails next.

Donna gave her a blank look as if she had no idea what she used to do two months ago. There was another knock at the door and Felicity sighed. That would be Moira. Before she could even get to the door Moira let herself in with her key. At least her mother would wait to be let in.

"Good morning Felicity," Moira greeted her cordially before heading to the stairs. On the other hand, at least Moira acknowledged her presence.

A minute later, Moira calmly walked down the stairs, "Excuse me Felicity, but is there a reason Ari is not upstairs in his crib?"

Felicity wordlessly pointed to the balcony and Moira made her way there. There was no point in telling Moira to have a seat. The woman wouldn't listen. Both Donna and Felicity watched Moira get rejected as well. Of course, Oliver had to be a bit more forceful with his mother because she wouldn't take no for an answer. She soon returned inside with a sour face.

"I thought I raised my son with more manners than that. Can you believe he is depriving his own mother of her grandson," she said in utter disbelief.

"He did the same thing to me too," Donna complained angrily.

Felicity knew she shouldn't get angry with them but it was grating on her nerves. She knew she should be extremely grateful for their help and their active role in Ari's life butOliver was Ari's father and if he wanted to spend time with his son then he should be allowed to. Donna and Moira had certainly spent more time with him this week than Oliver had. It was the two of them that needed to share.

"Felicity, I was thinking of taking Ari to the zoo," Donna pipped up.

"Actually, I was thinking of having a petting zoo come to the Manor. Ari could have some one-on-one time with all the animals," Moira countered.

Felicity looked at them like they were crazy, "He's two months old," she reminded them.

"But he's such a bright little boy. The experience would be good for him," Moira insisted.

"I need a drink," Felicity mumbled.

"You're breastfeeding," both grandmothers pointed out.

Felicity felt a tingle in her body and knew it meant that Ari was about to wake up. She was still amazed at how in tune her body was to her son's needs. Sure enough, Ari's hunger cry could be heard clearly inside. Both grandmothers jumped up to rush outside and got stuck in the doorway. Felicity rolled her eyes. They both know that's his hunger cry and they both know that only she can satisfy that particular need. Oliver rose from the rocker and walked to the door.

"If my son wasn't hungry, I would definitely take a picture of this," Oliver said to both women.

"Don't worry, I can pull a few stills off the security cameras," Felicity told him.

Oliver used his free hand to push both women back inside.

"Give him to me Oliver," his mother requested.

"Why? He's hungry," Oliver said. Ari was looking straight at Felicity. His little hand reaching in her direction.

"Come here my greedy little boy," Felicity said walking over to take him. Once he was securely in her arms, she turned around to head upstairs.

"You can feed him down here honey," her mother said.

"I could but I prefer the rocker in his nursery. It's much more comfortable," Felicity replied. That and it was far away from the two of them.

Felicity's departure with Ari meant that Oliver was left with the grandmothers.

"Is everything going well in the office?" Moira asked her son.

Oliver winced, he didn't want to think about work on his first day off in three weeks. He hadn't planned on having so much of his time taken up by work. He was supposed to be home with Felicity more to help her take care of Ari but the Hong Kong deal had come out of nowhere and it was a great opportunity for Queen Consolidated. Even Felicity wanted him to pursue it. At whatever time he reached home, he would hand Felicity all the documents and she would read it. Before he went to work the next day, he would collect the documents with her thoughts written on it. He would have preferred to discuss it in person with her but she preferred for him to sleep. He probably would have felt guiltier about not supporting her, if their mothers weren't there every day. Even their fathers popped around quite a bit to play with Ari.

"Can both of you watch Ari for a few hours one night this week? I want to take Felicity out to dinner. It's been a while since we went anywhere," Oliver said.

It really had been a while. Felicity was very hesitant to leave Ari for too long and Ari himself didn't like having his mother out of sight. His son's eyes always followed Felicity around the room. If you tried to take him out of the room Felicity was in, he would start to fuss. Felicity said it was because he was greedy and liked to stay close to his milk machine.

"I can take him to the mansion," Moira offered.

"I could keep him at my apartment for the night so you two could enjoy the night," Donna countered while raising her eyebrows suggestively. He had heard all the details of the advice Donna had given Felicity on post-pregnancy sex.

"We would prefer you watch him here. He's hasn't slept anywhere else yet. He only knows his crib," Oliver pointed out.

"This is why it's an excellent opportunity for him to acclimatise to the mansion. Afterall, the Mansion will belong to him one day," Moira pointed out.

"That place is too drafty for a baby. I'm sure Ari would prefer the warmth of my apartment," Donna insisted.

"No," Oliver said to them his forefinger and thumb rubbing together, a sign of his frustration. "Forget that I asked. I'm sure Digg and Lyla are available. Sara likes to come and watch cartoons on this TV so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Hold up!" Donna said fiercely. "You're not depriving me of the opportunity to take care of my grandson."

"I have to admit that I agree with Donna," Moira begrudgingly admitted.

"Well then do the both of you agree to come here and babysit?" Oliver asked.

Donna and Moira glanced at each other. Moira let out a long sigh, "We agree."

"Great! I just have to convince Felicity to let me take her to dinner. I'll let you know which day this week."

* * *

It took a lot of convincing but he eventually got Felicity to agree to go to dinner with him on Tuesday night when the restaurant wouldn't be too crowded and they could be served quickly. It would be a very late dinner though because they had to plan their outing for the time in between when Ari was put to sleep and when he woke up for a feeding.

Both grandmothers had arrived early, offering to bath and prepare Ari for bed while Felicity prepared for her romantic dinner with Oliver. She wasn't quite back to her old size yet so she had to use a wrap dress for dinner which she dressed up with some diamond earrings and necklace that Oliver gave her for their last anniversary. She was a bit anxious about going out in public. She hoped she didn't have any accidents or leaks. She kissed a sleeping Ari goodbye and promised to be back quickly.

Dinner went well but it took a bit longer than she had anticipated. She enjoyed the alone time with Oliver but she knew they had to get back. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, the sound of Ari screaming his head off could be heard clearly in the corridor. The neighbours were probably wandering what they were doing to their son. They both rushed towards their front door. When they opened it, they were treated to the sight of Donna bouncing Ari up and down while Moira, Robert and Noah all danced around with toys and funny faces but it wasn't working to calm him down. He had long tear trails running down his chubby cheeks.

"Ari," Felicity said running to him.

Ari looked up at Felicity and his next cry was much softer. Literally within three seconds of Felicity holding him, he had stopped crying.

"Oh thank god," Donna said collapsing on the couch.

"I told you he wanted Felicity," Noah gloated.

Donna glared at him while Ari started to coo happily at his mother.

"Baby boy, mama is here. Don't worry your milk factory is safe," she said to him.

He smiled and then focused in on his grandfathers who both had toys in their hands.

Oliver acknowledged his father and father-in-law with a nod, "I'm surprised to see you both here."

Noah shrugged, "They had to call in the reinforcements."

"Like it did any good," Donna snapped. She and Noah in the same room was never a good thing.

"It worked, for a little while," Robert admitted.

"How long has he been crying?" Felicity asked concerned.

"On and off for about 2 hours," Moira admitted.

"Oliver and I've been gone for 2 hours," Felicity replied. "Why didn't you call us?"

"No, you were gone for 2 hours and ten minutes," Donna said. "And we both wanted you to enjoy yourselves."

"You can't always be home with him," Moira said. "There are galas and business dinners to attend."

"I still don't get how he knew you were gone though. He was sound asleep when you left," Donna commented.

"It's because he's quite attached to his mother," Noah said. "Studies have shown…"

"Enough talk about the studies," an exasperated Moira said while Donna rolled her eyes.

The front door flew open and Captain Lance walked in with an arm load of toys from his and Donna's apartment.

"Looks like the emergency is finished," Quentin said relieved.

"As I said before, we didn't need the toys from your apartment. The toys I brought with me were sufficient enough," Moira said.

Donna was about to respond but Felicity cut her off knowing exactly where the conversation was going to head, "Stop it now. I have had a lovely evening with my husband and I really don't want to hear the two you start up. I've stayed quiet because I didn't want to discourage the two of you openly showing your love for Ari but I'm really getting tired of putting up with your kindergarten behaviour. Did it ever occur to you that if you worked together instead of against each other that you could probably create something totally amazing for Ari?" Felicity said.

Both woman looked away embarrassed and a period of silence settled on the group before Oliver broke it.

"It's getting late. Thank you for babysitting. There is a gala next month and we'll probably need you all again. Good night," Oliver said walking over to his mother and giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

She smiled at him, "We'll be on our way."

Each grandparent kissed Ari goodbye as they left.

"Do you want me to put him to sleep for you?" Oliver asked.

Felicity glanced at the clock, "I may as well see if he'll eat first and then we can put him to bed together and then you'll put me to bed."

"I like the sound of that."

* * *

 **1 month later**

Felicity collapsed onto bed next to Oliver completely exhausted.

"The next time I tell our mothers to work together, shoot me!"

* * *

 **An:** Thanks for reading. Look out for the next story in one-shot week tomorrow!


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